Veterans kneel at City Hall as Boy Scouts and police cadets recite Pledge of Allegiance

A small group of military veterans knelt during the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of Tuesday night’s Sacramento City Council meeting.

The members of the local Veterans for Peace chapter took a knee in the front row of the audience as a group of police cadets and Boy Scouts recited the pledge.

John Reiger, the local Veterans for Peace chapter president, said the group was expressing “support for Colin Kaepernick and athletes who are protesting police brutality.”

NFL players have knelt and locked arms during the playing of the National Anthem the past two weeks, a protest started by Kaepernick last year. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the protests.

“This is an important opportunity to let people know that as veterans we did not serve this country to defend its dark racist underbelly,” Reiger said in an emailed statement. “By taking a knee during those supposedly patriotic moments we stand with the athletes, and other Americans, who want our country to live up to its better aspirations.”

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Xavier Cabano, 28, and four friends were camped out on 14th Street on Tuesday, eating snacks and guarding a large cart the group uses to store their clothes. He said his group has gotten more grief from police since residents began asking city officials to clear them out.

About This Blog

Ryan Lillis has covered the city of Sacramento, its 108 neighborhoods and its politicians since 2008. Prior to that, he covered crime at The Sacramento Bee. A native of upstate New York, Lillis has a journalism degree from the University of California, Berkeley.